CAN YOU EAT YOUR WAY TO BETTER GUT HEALTH?

by Simon Morton

BBC science journalist Dr Michael Mosley has been looking at how easy it is to improve gut health through diet, from the use of probiotics, to fermented foods and fiber.

The human gut is a 10-metre long organ for digesting food. Billions of bacteria and yeasts live there. According to the latest science, this community of microbes in our gut (called the microbiome) seems to play an important role in keeping us healthy and even happy.

That's one of the reasons why more of us are looking for ways to improve our gut health and look after all these bugs that call our insides home.

Faecal transplants – transplanting good bacteria from one person and implanting into someone lacking essential gut flora – is one approach. But eating our way back to better gut health seems like a far more appetising proposition!

In this interview Dr Michael Mosley explains the varying values of prebiotics, probiotics and fermented foods. He also highlights how not all fermented foods are created equally, and that when it comes to both taste and bacterial benefits homemade wins hands down.

This interview comes courtesy of Radio New Zealand.

Keen to learn more about the fantastic frontiers of fermented food? Prof David Cameron Smith explains what makes fermentation great and provides five fermented superfoods you can enjoy right now. Check it out.

This content is published under licence and in partnership with Radio New Zealand, one of the world’s foremost public broadcasters. To learn more go to radionz.co.nz

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